Statement by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, Ambassador Norberto Moretti, as Chair of the meeting of the IBSA Fund Board of Directors - September 5th, 2023

Let me begin by saluting Ms. Dima Al-Khatib and my fellow DPRs from India and South Africa and welcoming you all to this momentous session.

We feel honored to take over the rotating presidency of the IBSA Fund in such an eventful year for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, with the midway SDG Summit landmark, and for South-South cooperation, after a successful 21st High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation and in the lead-up to yet another celebration of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation.

As we hit the halfway mark with a record of stagnation and setbacks in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, there is an urgent need for the reinvigoration of South-South cooperation as a pivotal and complementary modality of cooperation for development and unique means of implementation of the SDGs. No other modality of cooperation enables the mutually beneficial non-conditional sharing of replicable, scalable, and cost-effective solutions between and among countries with similar development challenges. Against that backdrop, the IBSA Fund has an important role to play in boosting South-South cooperation and helping bridge, through the projects it funds, SDG implementation gaps in areas with clear and tangible socioeconomic results, such as job and income generation, social protection, education, health, and women´s economic empowerment. Through our deliberations in this Board, in support of projects extending across nearly all continents, we contribute to the realization of the potential of South-South cooperation as one more accelerator of the SDGs, while reaffirming our unwavering commitment to poverty and hunger eradication.

As we are all making a debut in IBSA Board meetings, there is an opportunity for renewed commitment and action. In this vein, I invite you all to coalesce to further harness the IBSA Fund as a vehicle for expressing solidarity with fellow countries of the Global South, championing the principles of South-South cooperation, and reverberating our shared emphases and priorities in multilateral discussions on cooperation for development and on sustainable development. Board meetings could and should also constitute a platform for strategic thinking and discussions, through exchange of views and coordination regarding ongoing debates and negotiations in the General Assembly in ECOSOC, in such topics as: a) sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda; b) fight against hunger and poverty; c) food security; d) environmental issues; and e) Internet governance and international digital cooperation. Then again, that dialogue would ultimately rest upon a high coincidence of views and interests among three of the main democracies in the world.

A special thanks should be addressed to UNOSSC for its relentless and trustworthy work in managing the Fund, following up and updating on project implementation, campaigning for the Fund and bolstering its visibility, and integrating and mainstreaming the South-South cooperation toolkit into both the Fund projects and the activities of the United Nations Development System. As we count on the continued support of UNOSSC, we encourage it to keep up with the good work and seek further refinements in the following priority areas: i) building and strengthening capacity of and coordination with national focal points in charge of SSC and trilateral cooperation in developing countries; ii) helping scale up resource mobilization for SSC and trilateral cooperation not only within the UN development system but also on a global scale; and iii) further mainstreaming CSS and triangular cooperation into multilateral cooperation.

As far we are concerned, we stand ready to keep on contributing, through our national cooperation agency, to the technical improvement of projects. We are also keen on enhanced direct participation of IBSA countries in the implementation of approved projects, as well as further and more comprehensive integration into project delivery of the principles that guide South-South cooperation [respect for national sovereignty, ownership and national independence, equality, non-conditionality].

At last, I´m much pleased to be able to announce we´ve recently signed an agreement with UNDP/UNOSSC that provides a legal framework for increasing our contribution to the IBSA Fund.  Soon enough those resources will be available in the books of UNOSSC for us to source new projects and further expand our project portfolio. By the way, we have just finalized a concept note for a project in Palestine that we are glad to put forward for your consideration with a view to its adoption in the forthcoming meeting of the Board. It is perfectly aligned with the core goals of the Fund and is poised to help reach the furthest behind in Palestine by unlocking agri-business development in marginalized communities as a tool for food security and enhanced household incomes. We hope for your positive consideration.

On that note, let me conclude by wishing us all a very productive meeting